الوصم الاجتماعي واتجاهات طلبة الجامعات الأردنية نحو المصابين بمرض الإيدز

Social stigma and attitudes of Jordanian university students towards people living with AIDS

This study aims at exploring the knowledge, social stigma and attitudes of university students towards HIV-positive persons. In order to achieve the study objectives, Badahdah, Sayem, and Foot, (2009) scale of HIV stigma, which has been applied in several Arab countries, was used. A random sample of (683) students was selected from three public universities, namely, the University of Jordan, Yarmouk University and Al-Hussein Bin Tala. Findings show that university students have low-level of knowledge about HIV. However, social stigma about HIV position persons was high among university students. Furthermore, students' attitudes towards HIV-positive persons were extremely negative. Students reject, disrespect, fear of disclosure, shame and disgrace of AIDS patients. Moreover, significant differences were found in student's attitudes towards AIDS patients attributed to gender and religious commitment. Finally, no statistically significant differences were found in social stigma and in students' attitudes towards HIV-persons attributed to the student income, having a family member tested with HIV positive, or having an interest in HIV testing. The study suggests several recommendations and procedures related to students' stigma, attitudes and knowledge.